An audit of garda credit cards found receipts were missing for over €900 worth of spending, an incomplete policy that hadn’t been updated since 2018, and little paperwork on whether spending was necessary.
External auditors looked at a sample of cards in use by An Garda saying that there was no clarity on what was and wasn’t allowed and, in some cases, no invoices or receipts to back up expenditure.
The report by Forvis Mazars said: “Invoice and/or receipt has not been provided for nine out of forty-two sampled transactions. The total value of missing invoices is €902.33.
“The policy is vague in terms of allowable expenses – for that reason we can’t confirm if the expenditures tested are in line with the policy and for reasonable/legitimate business purposes.”
The auditors also looked at nine monthly reconciliations for cards but could find no evidence that spending was certified as “incurred in an official capacity.”
Their report said there was no proof all relevant receipts were attached by cardholders to the credit card statements or whether explanations had been provided for missing receipts.
One reconciliation was dated October 2022 but when the auditors examined it, they found it related to the following year.
The report said: “As part of the audit we reviewed the policy and found it is not clear from the policy what expenditure is considered official use.
“Even though the policy states … approval is required for all expenditure, it does not specify who the approval should be obtained from and how to treat the expenditure where no approval was obtained.”
Other findings included a lack of documentation for new card set-up and no documented thresholds for card limits.
As part of the review, Forvis Mazars looked as well at the official policy on credit cards, which dated from 2018 and “does not appear to be complete.”
“The document including [the] title is only four pages long. We were informed that the complete document was not available,” the audit said.
Forvis Mazars said there was nothing in the policy about the number of credit cards, lost or stolen cards, suspected fraud, or cancellation procedures.
The audit of 2023 expenditure said there was no clarity on what cards could be used for and that it wasn’t even clear that “personal expenditure” was prohibited.
It said: “The policy does not specify the process for ensuring that transactions are reviewed to ensure that personal expenditure (including gratuities) is returned to An Garda Síochána.”
Overall, the report gave limited assurance saying that there was an inadequate or ineffective system of governance including one high priority finding that could result in “substantial error, loss, fraud, or damage to reputation.”
A spokesman said: “Of the six recommendations, the recommendations concerning monthly reconciliations and collation of receipts have been fully implemented.
“The remaining four recommendations are being progressed in line [with] An Garda Síochána internal governance processes and timelines and are expected to be fully addressed in the coming quarter.”